The opposition leader of the West African country of Benin Rekyu Maduga was convicted on terrorism financing charges. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison without the possibility of early release, according to the Benin web TV channel.
A total of five people are involved in the case. Three also received 20 years in prison. They, along with Reyu Madugu, must also pay a fine of 50 million West African francs ($ 86.2 thousand). Another defendant in the case received a five-year sentence and was fined 2 million West African francs ($ 3.4 thousand).
All the defendants in the case did not admit their guilt. Their defense argued that the investigation had no evidence of the involvement of the accused in the financing of terrorism.
Ryoku Madugu is a former Minister of Justice who served as Special Adviser to the President in 2016. She ran for the presidency in March, but was rejected and later detained several weeks before the vote. As a result, President Patrice Talon was re-elected for a second term, gaining 86.3% of the vote. Lawyers for Reyu Madugu called the charges against her a “political conspiracy”, writes Le journal de l’Afrique.
Read about how the life of Benin has changed over 60 years of independence, read in the material “b” “Before and after socialism, before and after democracy.”
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